Mobile POS

Some of us remember those old-time grocery stores from our childhood that accepted only cash. Sometimes not having exact change meant redoing a part of your shopping on a different day or somewhere else. Thankfully, memories of those days are just that. Memories. The digital boom that happened in the last 25 years permeated retail…

The freshness of mobile transactions has become both an asset and a pitfall. Mobile payments are on the rise. The ease of use and excitement of convenience allow for shoppers to feel differently about spending money. The ability to use an app on their cellphone that's already in their hand makes making payments not only…

Department store chain Barneys New York created an iPad-specific application to further bring its in-store experience into the digital space. Barneys’ app combines its content site The Window with online shopping to give consumers a rounded impression of the retailer. More retailers are choosing to have their apps connect consumers with the store through more than just e-commerce by providing easy links to content and customer service. "Form factor is incredibly important on mobile," said Matthew Woolsey, executive vice president digital, Barneys New York.

This year will mark a major milestone for tablets and their influence on Internet retailers. We believe tablets will draw even with smartphones, and account for 50% of the total value of U.S. retail sales made over mobile devices.

When it comes to consumers’ love of all things digital, using tablets and smartphones to interact with retailers is high on their list. According to a report produced in partnership with comScore and The Partnering Group and released yesterday at Shop.org's Annual Summit, in June 2013, more than half (55 percent) of all retail-related internet time originated on smartphones and tablet devices combined, compared with just 45 percent originating from desktop devices.

Retail, a gala event where consumer meets product, has been the heart of our economic fabric for hundreds of years. From the markets and bazaars of antiquity to mass merchant mega chains of today, the basic principles have remained the same: get customers into the store, in front of the items they want and up to the counter for purchase. While these tenets will never change, an increasingly costly war with e-commerce has forced retailers to innovate to survive, using mobile technologies to "enhance and personalize" the shopping experience.